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On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the

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Citation Bar-Yosef, Ofer. 1998. “On the Nature of Transitions: The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the .” Cam. Arch. Jnl 8 (02) (October): 141.

Published Version doi:10.1017/S0959774300000986

Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12211496

Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8:2 (1998), 141-63

On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution

Ofer Bar-Yosef

This article discusses two major in the of humankind, namely, the Neolithic and the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic revolutions. The course of the first one is used as a general analogy to study the second, and the older one. This approach puts aside the issue of biological differences among the , and concentrates solely on the cultural and technological innovations. It also demonstrates that issues that are common- place to the study of the trajisition from foraging to cultivation and can be employed as an overarching model for the study of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. The advantage of this approach is that it focuses on the core areas where each of these revolutions began, the ensuing dispersals and their geographic contexts.

Revolutions occur from time to time during the can be made on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic of humankind. Although scholars disa- revolution. In my view, what has hampered a better gree on the of recognizable major cultural understanding of this earlier revolution is the fact changes that merit the label 'revolution', there is that most scholars have presented their hypotheses hardly any doubt that both the transition from the from a West European perspective. It would be ad- Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic and the transition vantageous to look at the same problem from a Near from foraging to should be included. Eastern viewpoint, without of course endorsing the Several ago I suggested that the models automatic assumption of ex oriente lux. available for the agricultural or Neolithic revolution For the purpose of clarity I will move through might assist us in building models and seeking in- time from the recent to the more remote past. After formation about the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic all, one can only excavate a site from the recent revolution (Bar-Yosef 1992; 1994). Current knowl- surface to the bedrock and not the other way around. edge of the processes involved in the Neolithic Revo- Adopting such a trajectory is not much different lution brings major advantages when we examine from the way we build our models: by using analo- other dramatic changes which occurred some 50,000 gies derived from the recent historical past, from to 40,000 years earlier. First, the Neolithic Revolu- fields such as and , tion was the achievement of a single human species, and by testing our assumptions through actualistic namely our own sapiens. Second, archaeologi- studies, we try to overcome the epistemological ob- cal knowledge of this revolution indicates a direct stacles. relationship between the and . The discipline of is used to recon- Third, the large body of data on the transition to struct cultural history or to test functional- agriculture, collected from a single -defined geo- adaptational models. Archaeologists employ or graphic region, clearly demonstrates temporal and borrow from the research methods and results of spatial trajectories. other disciplines in order to make sense of our finds As with the agricultural revolution, several gen- in the field and in the laboratory. Thus knowledge of eralizations concerning relatively rapid cultural social behaviour is derived from the works of social changes and long-range movements of populations anthropologists, sociologists, and primatologists.

141 Ofer Bar-Yosef

Bioanthropologists, whether concerned with fossils In historical studies one can trace and date the or living populations, provide us with the essential generation when such a revolution began. For in- building blocks for reconstructing past demographies stance, historical documents and archaeological re- and phylogenetic relationships. Linguists and brain mains reveal exactly when and where the Industrial scientists produce information and models concern- Revolution in eighteenth-century took place, ing development and cognition. Geneti- how quickly technical inventions were transported and linguists challenge our interpretations of to other regions, when and how social changes oc- past , migrations, and boundaries between curred, etc. (e.g. Landes 1969; Hartwell 1971; Wolf social entities. Other scientists supply information 1982; Braudel 1987). Finding an overall agreement on the preservation of archaeological remains, the among and anthropologists concerning the sourcing of materials, site formation processes, past 'why' question is more difficult (e.g. see papers in climates, vegetations and . Radiometric dates O'Brien & Quinault 1993). The lesson from the in- are certainly produced from samples we may collect vestigation of the recent past is that the 'when' and ourselves, but only by specialists who work in dif- 'where' are relatively easy to identify and date, but ferent laboratories. It is indeed becoming virtually 'why' answers remain elusive and open to constant impossible to integrate the variable archaeological re-interpretations. data sets into a coherent picture without working It is somewhat difficult to figure out the when closely with a large group of other scholars. The and where of a prehistoric cultural transition such as days of the pioneer archaeologist, the individual with the Neolithic Revolution. Here the time scale is based total reponsibility for the entire archaeological op- on radiocarbon dates, with their stated margins of eration, are gone. error, rather than historical data. Furthermore, even The ultimate goal of such all-encompassing ar- with the new calibration curves, we still cannot ex- chaeological projects is to tell some particular story pect to achieve greater accuracy in dating than within about why, where, and when human societies a few centuries (e.g. Evin 1995; however, note that changed. In the process we look for answers to ques- all the dates in this paper are uncalibrated DP). tions such as how and why societies differed from For the purpose of the following discussion I each other in their structure and organization, sub- have borrowed the notions of core and periphery sistence strategies, perception of the landscape, and from the (as already elsewhere; cultural constructs such as cosmology and /or reli- see Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1989a). These terms gion. It is no less important to find out why certain will be used only in the geographical sense with people and their cultural patterns survived through reference to rudimentary socio-economic variables good and bad times while others vanished. History such as subsistence strategy, time and energy budg- is littered with stories of winners and losers, and the ets, level of female fertility, social entities and so changes brought about by the two revolutions con- forth. There were also peripheries within the core sidered here exemplify this fate. area during the Industrial Revolution, which meant that inventions and innovations as well as power Prehistoric revolutions and richness were not evenly distributed through- out an expansive region but were more locally con- Past revolutions are always evaluated on the basis of centrated. As I will briefly show below, this model is their outcome. Gradualists see even the most dra- useful in examining the Neolithic Revolution in matic cultural and socio-economic transition as a Southwest . slow process that took hundreds or even thousands of years to be completed. In contrast, those who Introduction to the agricultural revolution view the change as radical and rapid try to find out when and where it began. The successful comple- The in the Near East, or more appro- tion of the first phase of a crucial transition culmi- priately southwest Asia, is one of the two oldest nates in the reaching of 'a point of no return'. Once centres of agricultural revolution in the the major catalytic change or changes occur, a new (the other being the middle Yangzi River in , socio-economic system emerges. Hence, even if the cf. Smith 1995; Fig. 1). Archaeological evidence, in- results became clear in the material world only a cluding botanical determinations of carbonized century or more later, this process is still considered remains, is rapidly accumulating (e.g. Harris & a 'revolution'. This is the position employed in the Hillman 1989; Hillman 1996; Kislev 1997). There is following pages. little doubt today that systematic cultivation of

142 On the Nature of Transitions

o

dak del

Figure 1. The centres of early agriculture in the Old World and possible routes of dispersals. and other '' resulted in their summary of the requires a gen- after several centuries (Hillman & eral understanding of the principles underlying the Davies 1990; 1992; Miller 1992; Zohary & Hopf 1994; and gathering ways of on which we Bar-Yosef & Meadow 1995). This was followed by base our interpretations. the domestication of and , with the later The ethnographic literature on hunter-gather- additions of and (Flannery 1983; Smith ers was written mainly during the nineteenth and 1995; Legge 1996). Hence the main transition to cul- twentieth centuries, although reports by early Euro- tivation was made by hunters-gatherers. Once they pean travellers (sixteenth to eighteenth centuries) became cultivators, even if that was only a part-time are also known. On the whole, the information gath- activity, social, technical and economic changes must ered indicates that the degree of mobility of a group naturally follow. We therefore need to examine care- depends on what may be referred to as the 'costs fully, from the archaeological evidence, how forag- and benefits' of foraging. In turn, these factors are ers shifted their subsistence base in a world that had directly affected by the nature, distribution, predict- not yet accommodated elsewhere. We need ability, reliability, and accessibility of resources, to examine the region at the time when it was still which together determine the carrying capacity of a inhabited by foragers. As is often the case, a given territory (Binford 1980; 1983; Kelly 1995 and

143 Ofer Bar-Yosef

references therein). For any given population, social line and the has a variable topography com- alliances with neighbouring groups increase the over- posed of a narrow coastal plain with a hinterland of all size of exploitable territory in seasons of scarcity. more or less continuous mountain and hill rartges. Hence the nature of mobility (often a mixture of High altitudes are common in the ranges (up residential and logistical moves) affects the overall to 3500-4000 metres above mean level) which group size and/or its mating system, and therefore descend northward into the Anatolian plateau, where also affects the optimal size of territory which is the average elevation is 1000-1500 metres a.m.s.l. In required to ensure long-term biological survival (e.g. the Levant the Rift separates the hilly back- Kelly 1995). from the eastern mountains and hills, which The available information on hunter-gatherers slope into the Syro-Arabian desertic plateau. covers various parts of the world. As foragers have The region is characterized by marked season- survived mainly in zones unsuitable for early agri- ality: winters are cold and rainy while summers are cultural techniques and cultivated crops, it is most hot and dry. Topography, soils and climate deter- useful for the purpose of analogy to consider what is mine the dominant vegetational belts. The descrip- known about groups that have inhabited 'Mediter- tion here follows the recent reconstruction of ranean-type' regions. The area of the Near East where phytogeographical belts in the Terminal the transition to cultivation took place was covered proposed by Hillman (1996). by various associations of Mediterranean vegetation. Hillman defines three major belts. The area Steppic belts extended on its northern and eastern along the coastal plains and the first hill and moun- sides. Somewhat similar environmental conditions tain ranges was covered by forest and woodland, can be found in other parts of the world particularly including montane forest, eu-Mediterrannean in southern , southern and California. sclerophylous woodland and xerix deciduous oak- In these regions, where a certain kind of 'Mediterra- Rosaceae woodland. The next belt, both northward nean' climate prevails, densities of hunter-gatherers and eastward, was the oak-terebinth (Quercus sp.- were estimated to be rather high compared to other Pistacia sp.) park-woodland, a mosaic of woodland, parts of those continents (e.g. Lourandos 1997). Un- with more open areas dominated by annual grasses. der such circumstances, both the relationships and Further away was the terebinth-almond steppe. Most the boundaries between groups were maintained of the region beyond these belts consists of a steppe through communal feasts, ceremonies and exchange. dominated by wormwoods, perennial chenopods and Conflicts arose in cases of prolonged stress condi- perennial tussock grasses. The natural habitats of tions. the cereals lie mainly in the oak-terebinth belt and Combining the most recent palaeoclimatic into the terebinth-almond belt (Hillman 1996; Fig. 2). data sets with information from pollen cores and By combining the available information from zooarchaeological investigations, we may simulate wetland pollen cores, wood and remains the potential exploitation patterns that foragers in of food (e.g. van Zeist & Bakker-Herres 1986; the Near East could have practised during most of van Zeist 1986; Baruch & Bottema 1991; van Zeist & the Upper Pleistocene. The reconstructed or simu- Bottema 1991; Miller 1992; Baruch 1994), Hillman lated settlement patterns can then be tested against was able to reconstruct the dynamic vegetational the available archaeological records for the Middle expansion from 13,000 BP to 11,000 BP, though he did and Upper Palaeolithic and for the Epi-Palaeolithic not offer a similar reconstruction of the situation and Neolithic periods. This approach indicates the during the succeeding stage. Accord- fields and areas where further research is urgently ing to the archaeological evidence, the earliest culti- needed. vating communities appear during the closing centuries of the latter period. Foraging settlement patterns in the Near East Various sources of information demonstrate that the climate of the region during the Upper Pleistocene The Near East (see Fig. 2) includes , the and Early was essentially similar to that of and , the Levant, the today. These sources include pollen cores from Tur- Syro-Arabian and the Sinai peninsula. Most key and (van Zeist & Bottema 1991), chemical of the archaeological remains relevant here are lo- analysis of the beds of the Upper Pleistocene cated on the Anatolian plateau, or the foothills of the Lisan in the Valley (Begin et al 1985), and the Taurus and Zagros mountains, and in the Levant. early Holocene distribution of C3 and C4 plants in The Mediterranean belt along the Turkish shore- the Negev (Goodfriend 1991). Decadal and centennial

144 On the Nature of Transitions

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

L. Zenbar Hu L. Mirabad Netiv Head

Rqsh Zi RamatHarif

Forest & woodland Oak-terebinth parkland Terebinth-almond woodland & steppe Steppe & desert

dak del

Figure 2. A reconstructed vegetation map (after Hillman 1996) for the period following cold phase of Isotope Stage 2 (13-11 ka BP) with the location of several Natufian and early Neolithic sites. fluctuations of precipitation, more than temperature varies from a few to as many as 25 square kilome- changes, were responsible for the expansion and con- tres. A similar pattern, perhaps with a larger home traction of the vegetational belts as reflected in range, can be inferred for Gazella subgutturosa, the Hillman's reconstructions (Hillman 1996). dominant species in the Syro-Arabian desert. Other Floral food resources in the region are seasonal, included wild cattle (Bos primigenius) which with seeds most abundant from April to June and were more common in Anatolia than in the Levant. fruits from September to November. Edible tubers, (Dama mesopotamica and Dama dama in Anatolia), bulbs and roots are rare (Danin 1983; Shmida et al. roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and (Sus 1986). The Mediterranean belt is the richest area, as scrofa) were abundant in the forest-woodland belts. one might expect, with over a hundred species of Wild goat (Capra aegagrus) occupied parkland and edible fruits, seeds, leaves, roots and tubers. hilly areas and was common in the Taurus and The faunal biomass was probably high in the Zagros, while the ibex (Capra ibex) inhabited the steep, woodland-parkland environments and gradually drier landscapes in the Levant. Finally, the wild sheep dwindled away into the steppic belt. Game animals (Ovis aries) was present mainly in Anatolia and the included the mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), a non- Taurus-Zagros foothills (Uerpmann 1987; 1996; Smith migratory antelope with a small home range that 1995).

145 Ofer Bar-Yosef

Once we determine whether Upper Pleistocene such events in the archaeological record is of great hunter-gatherers inhabited a vegetational belt or an interest. ecotone at a given period, we can begin to recon- struct patterns of optimal foraging. The varied to- From sedentary foragers to farming communities pography made seasonal movements easy, with winters spent in lowlands and summers in the high- Hypotheses have placed the earliest occurrences of lands. The main food resources and higher animal crop cultivation either in the natural zone where biomass were located in the ecotone of the forest and cereals grow or in the marginal belt where foragers oak-terebinth parkland. Thus harvesting wild cere- faced decreasing returns of plant food resources due als could have fallen to special task groups, or have to substantially worsening environmental conditions involved short-term general residential moves into (Childe 1952; Binford 1968; 1983; Flannery 1973; the oak-terebinth/terebinth-almond (Quercus sp.- Braidwood 1975; Cohen 1977). A new combined Pistacia sp. or Pistacia sp.-Amiggdahis) ecotones. model would incorporate elements from each of the The optimum territory for a band of hunter- previous ones (e.g. Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1992; gatherers in the woodland-parkland belt is estimated Smith 1995; Hole 1996). In order to clarify the se- at about 300-500 square kilometres. In contrast, for- quence of cultural changes we need to begin the agers in the steppic and/or desertic region would with a brief comment on the have needed a larger area, perhaps 500-2000 square foraging societies. kilometres, in order to maintain a sufficient buffer The archaeology of the Late Palaeolithic forag- against annual fluctuations (Bar-Yosef & Belfer- ers in the central and is well-known, Cohen 1992). The former could have been semi-sed- whereas much less information is available about entary while the latter would have been forced to this period in northern and (Bar-Yosef move their camps more frequently. & Meadow 1995 and references therein). Sites of the Under this regime, decreasing annual precipi- Kebaran complex (c. 18,000-14,500 DP) were limited tation and shifts in the distribution of rains, causing to the coastal Levant and isolated oases by the pre- diminishing yields of wild fruits, seeds and game vailing cold and dry climate of the Late Glacial Maxi- animals, would create situations of stress mainly in the mum. Foragers of the succeeding Geometric Kebaran steppe and desert belts. By contrast, resources in the took advantage of the climatic amelioration around Mediterranean belt would have remained more stable. 14,500-13,000 BP to expand into the formerly desertic Food shortages, either long- or short-term, could belt, which had become a lusher steppe. Common have been alleviated by hunter-gatherers in the fol- game animals throughout this period included deer, lowing ways (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1991): (1) wild goat and sheep in the Taurus (Otte et al. 1995), population aggregation in the Mediterranean core deer, gazelle and wild boar in the central Levant, areas; (2) techno-economic reorganization, such as and gazelle, ibex and hare in the steppic belt. Port- allowing increased returns from the same wild able groundstone mortars and bowls, which first stands, coupled with re-scheduling of hunting trips appeared during the Upper Palaeolithic, c. 29-27,000 BP within the same territories; (3) migration to neigh- in Qafzeh and Shanidar as well as bedrock cupholes, bouring areas, northward or southward (in the Le- are considered to indicate vegetal food processing vant) or along the coastal ranges. Groups that opted (Wright 1991). These utensils are found in Kebaran, to move or migrate faced three options when en- Geometric Kebaran and other contemporary archaeo- countering the 'others'. They could avoid or ignore logical entities in both Mediterranean and steppic them, form an amicable relationship (that would of- sites. Actual evidence for the consumption of plant ten lead to interbreeding) or confront them as rivals. food has been recovered from the waterlogged site of Warfare among hunter-gatherers, as an alternative Ohallo II (in Lake Kinneret, ) and dated to 19,000 social solution for inter-group competition, is well- DP by an extensive series of radiocarbon readings known (Keeley 1996). (Kislev et al. 1992; Nadel et al 1995). The suite of gath- ered and collected fruits and seeds there include abun- Each of these strategies would have led to the dant cereals, indicating that this staple food was already emergence of a new settlement pattern, different so- a major component in the human diet. A similar though cial alliances and possibly adjusted . Thus, broader spectrum of gathered plant foods is known substantial environmental change, whether improve- from the more northerly area in the later Epi-Palaeo- ment or deterioration, would result in important spa- layer at Abu Hureyra, dated to c. 11,500-10,500 BP tial reorganization of populations, and sometimes in significant social development. The identification of

146 On the Nature of Transitions

The re-colonization of the steppic-desertic belt account (Wright 1995), not even in the updated sum- can probably be directly attributed to climatic im- mary of the domestication of the Near Eastern crops provement around 14,500 BP. Human groups moved (Zohary & Hopf 1994). If these environmental shifts or expanded from the Mediterranean woodland- are given due weight as factors influencing the cul- parkland into previously uninhabited areas. Other tural sequence, an interesting picture emerges. As a groups may have come from the valley (Henry first step towards employing the lessons learned from 1989; Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1992). This period research concerning this Neolithic revolution in a terminates with an important socio-economic thresh- study of the much older Middle/Upper old marked by the emergence of the Natufian cul- revolution, I will briefly summarize the relevant evi- ture (e.g. Bar-Yosef 1998 and references therein). dence (Hole 1984a; Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1989a; The appearance of the Natufian is the culmina- 1992; Bar-Yosef & Meadow 1995; Hillman et al. 1989; tion of various tactical and strategic adaptations that Hillman 1996; Legge 1996; Garrard et al 1996; Sherratt Levantine hunter-gatherers had to make around 1997; van Andel & Runnels 1995; Smith 1995): 13,000 BP. There is currently no agreement on exactly 1. The 'Neolithic revolution' was achieved by, and why this developed. On the one hand, cli- affected, a single human species, namely Homo matic improvements around 13,000 BP provided a sapiens and does not coincide with any biological wealth of food resources (Hillman 1996). On the other change. However, the shifts in diet, food prepa- hand, population growth in both the steppic and ration techniques, domestication of goat, sheep desertic region c. 14,500-13,000 BP made any abrupt, and later cattle, as well as living conditions, re- short-term, climatic fluctuation an impetus for hu- sulted in major impacts on human body size, man groups to try to establish realistic control over health and ability to digest dairy products (Cohen their territories. What we actually see is the estab- 1989; Durham 1990). lishment of a series of sedentary Early Natufian ham- 2. Despite certain ambiguities concerning the inter- lets in a delineated 'homeland' (Fig. 3) that would pretation of terrestrial pollen data (Rossignol- resemble the ethnographically known settlements of Strick 1995), there is general agreement that the the northwest coast Native Americans. This major Younger Dryas climatic event is documented in shift can be interpreted as a reaction to an abrupt East Mediterranean marine and lake cores. While environmental change (the ?) that ne- the dating of pollen cores can be upset by the cessitated a new approach to the way resources were effects of hard water (Wright 1995), a reliable exploited. It is not inconceivable that previous pat- chronological estimate can be obtained by count- terns of semi- among Late Pleistocene for- ing laminated sediments (e.g. Landmann et al 1996). agers, mentioned above, were simply replaced by The climatic crisis of the Younger Dryas (c. firmer tenure over certain territories. Some research- 11,000-10,000 BP), which actually lasted about ers argue that sedentism was mainly a response to 1300+70 calendrical years (Mayewski & Bender the need to intensify exploitation (e.g. Henry 1995), resulted in major environmental deteriora- 1989; Bar-Yosef & Meadow 1995). Others suggest tion which undoubtedly affected the subsistence that sedentism came first, and increased the propa- strategies of the Natufian population. One of the gation of annuals such as cereals (McCorriston & main outcomes of the cold and dry conditions of Hole 1991). this period may have been a decrease in the natu- ral production of C3 plants such as cereals. In Elements and steps of the Neolithic revolution addition, previous exploitation of the environ- ment by sedentary Early Natufian communities The search for the earliest farming communities be- as well as by neighbouring foragers, would have gan in earnest with R. Braidwood's pioneering project exacerbated the depletion of plant and animal (Braidwood & Howe 1960; Braidwood et al. 1983) in resources (Tchernov 1991). the hilly flanks of the Zagros and later in the Taurus. Social reactions to the worsening environmen- In his view, early farming sites were located in the tal conditions varied in different regions of the natural habitats where the wild progenitors of vari- Near East. One example is the well-documented ous species of cereals grow today. His approach was case of the Harifian culture, c. 10,700-10,100 BP supported by botanical surveys across (Goring-Morris 1991). In the Negev and northern (Harlan & Zohary 1966; Harlan 1977). Unfortunately, Sinai, the Late Natufian groups improved their the impact of Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene cli- hunting techniques through the invention of the matic changes on this region were not taken into Harif point, a more efficient . Bone

147 Ofer Bar-Yosef

Anatolia

Abu Hureyra

Mediterranean Sea

Hayonim & (Eynan) Rakefet Sefunim GevII Nahal Oren El-Wad ^* * Kebara FazaelIV, V F^ammeh 27 Salibiya I, XII •Azraq 18 Shukbah • Wadi Uwaynid

Gebel Lagama Syro-Arabian desert

Eilat >AA Aqaba Key Natufian homeland A • Site

0 200 km dak del

Figure 3. The Natufian 'homeland'.

remains at Harifian sites indicate hunting of local indicate the processing of undetermined plant (gazelle, ibex, hare and perhaps wild sheep), food elements. Large collections of marine shells while grinding stones, mortars and cup-holes demonstrate abundant contacts with both the Red

148 On the Nature of Transitions

Mediterranean Sea

daldel

Figure 4. The distribution of extensive stands of wild cereal during the Younger Dryas. (Modified from Hillman 1996.)

Sea and Mediterranean shores (D.E. Bar-Yosef appeared in this area, and it seems that this was 1991). The overall territory of the Harifian, as the locus for the emergence of agriculture in West- 2 estimated from surveys, is at least 8000 km , and ern Asia. The rapidly increasing CO2 levels of the could have been up to 30,000-50,000 km2. Radio- early Holocene provided suitable conditions for carbon dates on wood allow us to esti- the continuous successful cultivation of C3 plants mate that the total duration of the Harifian was (Sage 1995). Hence early cultivating communities, only two to three hundred years, clearly an un- known in the Levant as Pre- Neolithic A successful attempt to adapt to increasing aridity. (PPNA, c. 10,300-9600/9300 BP), flourished after Intensive surveys show that this territory, when the end of the Younger Dryas within the Levantine finally abandoned, remained essentially uninhab- Corridor (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1989a; Cauvin ited for about one thousand radiocarbon years. 1994; Fig. 5). Population growth in early , 3. Palaeobotanical reconstruction of the Younger resulting from increasing sedentism, led to active Dryas indicates that the progenitors of most ce- emigration (Ammerman & Cavalli-Sforza 1984; real species grew in a relatively narrow strip of van Andel & Runnels 1995). The process of estab- the Levant (Fig. 4). The archaeological record lishing new communities was in turn facilitated shows that the first communities of cultivators by the wetter and increasingly warmer climate of

149 Ofer Bar-Yosef

obile gatherers

Catalhdyttk edenta brager

Mediterranean Sea Cultivators- huntp-s "Itaqed-Dubb Salibiya IX Netiv Hagdud jerusal Mobile Foragers

The during the Early Neolithic

Figure 5. The Lemntine Corridor during the Early Neolithic (10,300-8000 BP) with marking the direction of colonization and dispersals of'founder crops'.

the Early Holocene. These conditions promoted porary distribution as recorded by Harlan & Zohary the wider geographic dispersal of the progenitors (1966; see also Zohary & Hopf 1994). of the wild cereals which resulted in the contem- 4. The current archaeobotanical evidence clearly

150 On the Nature of Transitions

indicates that the first farmers were cultivators of bon years) and was achieved by Levantine - wild cereals, whether einkorn, , or ers who also carried their lithic , char- (e.g. Hillman et al. 1989; Kislev 1989; 1997). acterized by the and Amuq These early PPNA communities, from Jerf el types (S. Kozlowski pers. comm.), into the new Ahmar in the north to in the south, con- territories. The introduction of a new subsistence tinued to hunt, trap and gather wild fruits, seeds strategy to environments formerly exploited solely and leaves. But their staple foods were deliber- by foragers, such as the Konya plain, created a ately cultivated and harvested cereals and leg- population explosion and motivated demic diffu- umes (see Hillman & Davies 1990 and Kislev 1997 sion, now in a westward direction (Ammerman for detailed discussion). The full appearance of & Cavalli-Sforza 1984; van Andel & Runnels 1995). the domesticated forms occurred in the Levantine 8. The transmission of the new economy eastward Corridor in the course of several hundred years, to the Zagros foothills, from Kurdistan in the north beginning with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, to Khuzistan in the south, probably occurred with- c. 9600/9300-7800/7500 DP; e.g. Hillman & Davies out major displacements of human communities. 1990; Kislev 1997). Barley, wheat and rye were In this area the Late Palaeolithic tradi- domesticated in the area between Jericho and tion continued into the Neolithic (Hole 1989; Mureybit. As for einkorn, the genetic evidence Kozlowski pers. comm.). suggests that the locus of its first domestication 9. The Neolithic economy spread through the Medi- was in southeast Turkey or the northeastern cor- terranean basin during the period 9000-7000 BP ner of the Levant (Heun et al. 1997; Figs. 4-5). by coastal navigation (Cherry 1990) and by in- 5. Human population growth during the PPNA, land movement along the Danube valley (Ammer- documented by an increase in the size of the larg- man & Cavalli-Sforza 1984; Renfrew 1987; Sokal est sites from 0.2 to 2.0-3.0 hectares, was coinci- et al 1991). Processes of demic diffusion and ac- dent with the establishment of cereal cultivation, culturation were largely responsible for the probably because the latter resulted in predict- 'Neolithization' of Europe. able supplies of weaning foodstuffs. The increased 10. The eastward expansion of Neolithic subsistence level of sedentism and greater reliability of food systems reached within 1500 radiocar- supplies caused both a drop in the age of bon years. Surprisingly, however, it apparently menarche and a longer period of fertility for the took about 2000 radiocarbon years to penetrate now better-fed women (e.g. Bentley 1996), factors the Nile valley (by c. 6000 BP) although the latter which would also promote population growth. lies within only one week's walk south of the Large villages became viable biological units and . reduced or removed the need to travel substan- In conclusion, the current archaeological, archaeo- tial distances over to find a mate. The sense of botanical and plant genetic evidence confirm that territoriality and ownership reached a new level, the core area of the Neolithic Revolution lay in the contributing to. the emergence of new and more Levantine Corridor — that is to say, the western complex levels of social alliances, supported by wing of the Fertile Crescent. The socio-economic re-designed cosmologies (e.g. Cauvin 1994). changes created new interaction spheres within the 6. The (goat, sheep, cattle, region (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1989b; Sherratt ) took place in PPNB sedentary and semi-sed- 1997). Both the transmission of information along entary -hunter villages. The domestication exchange routes and the establishment of new vil- of goat and sheep most likely occurred first in the lages by colonists on arable lands marked the move hilly flanks of the Taurus/Zagros (e.g. Legge 1996; into Europe and the Mediterranean . If earlier Garrard et al. 1996; Hole 1996; Smith 1995) where revolutions had a somewhat similar or at least com- these animals had been hunted for many millen- parable structure, then we should certainly be able nia and local inhabitants were familiar with their to trace the course of the changes which they involve. behaviour. 7. The inevitable expansion of successful Early The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, or, Neolithic communities was directed initially Where did the Cro-Magnons come from? northward along the Levantine Corridor and sub- sequently westward into Anatolia. The introduc- Most scholars who have written about the Middle to tion of cereal cultivation to the Anatolian basins Upper Palaeolithic transition consider it to be a revo- was rapid (within less than a thousand radiocar- lution (e.g. Gilman 1984; Gamble 1986; Mellars 1989;

151 Ofer Bar-Yosef

1996a,b; White 1989; 1997; Stringer & Gamble 1993; long before the transition from the Middle to the Up- Mithen 1996; Marshack 1972); others (e.g. Clark 1997; per Palaeolithic (currently dated to c. 50,000-40,000 Straus 1997) view it as a gradual, regional change. years ago in , the Near East and Europe), Here, the view is taken that the Middle to Up- and that this is a cultural change. There is evidence per Palaeolithic transition in Western Asia and Eu- (albeit from a single sample) that dif- was a true technological and . fered genetically from Homo sapiens (Krings et al The first and principal lesson to be learned from the 1997). What we have, therefore is a pattern of bio- study of the Neolithic Revolution is that this too logical change not correlating with cultural change. began in a core area. If no specific region of Europe There are of course other opinions, such as Klein's is considered to be that core area, then it follows that suggestion that the modern capacity for culture ex- when we compare archaeological remains of Euro- pressed in Upper Palaeolithic remains (beads, pean Neanderthals with those of the Cro-Magnons, objects, sophisticated bone and industries, etc.) we are not studying a revolution that occurred in can only be explained by a neurological change that situ. Such a comparison tells us about differences occurred some 50,000 years ago (Klein 1995). As I and similarities between two populations, but not have shown, comparison with the Neolithic revolu- about the causes and early phases of this revolution. tion suggests that invoking such a neurological Cro-Magnons and Neandertals came to inhabit the change is not necessary. same regions in Europe as the result of colonization Whether one supports the 'out of Africa' or by the former group. We have no clear idea where 'multi-regional evolution' model for the biological this revolution took place, although certain observa- change, there is a general level of agreement on the tions point to East Africa (Ambrose 1998) while oth- existence of a cultural change that is referred to as ers suggest the Levant (e.g. Sherratt 1997). The best the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic, or in sub-Saharan documented and richest archaeological records are Africa as the Middle to Late transition. in , but even with the fragmentary Some scholars see this cultural transition as an event nature of the archaeological records from other re- that took place independently in each region through gions and the incomplete sequence of human fossils, local adaption to changing environmental conditions a reasonably clear picture emerges (e.g. Clark 1992; or an increase or decrease in population size. The Deacon 1992; Bar-Yosef 1994; Foley & Mirazon Lahr view taken here, however, is that the cultural change 1997; van Peer 1998). occurred in a core area and was then transmitted by There is little doubt today that the emergence colonizers to other regions where it became estab- of Anatomically Modern (AMH) took place lished. If this is correct, we need to locate the core some 300,000-100,000 years ago in sub-Saharan Af- area where the process began and from which it rica (e.g. Ruvolo 1996; 1997; Harpending et al. 1998; spread. Here the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic Revo- Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1993; Relethford 1995; Goldstein lution can be profitably studied by the same ap- et al. 1995) and was followed by dispersals into Eura- proach employed for the Neolithic Revolution. The sia (Fig. 6). Early Modern Humans seem to have first step should be similar to that taken by inhabited parts of Asia by 110,000-90,000 years ago Braidwood in the 1940s — creation of a 'gap chart' (the Skhul-Qafzeh group, also known as 'Proto-Cro- (Young et al 1983) which will indicate where we Magnons') and to have reached Australia by about should look for the missing information. The follow- 60,000 BP (papers in Akazawa et al. 1998; Roberts et ing observations may be considered: al 1990). AMH are present in in a Mid- 1. Who was responsible for the transition from the dle Palaeolithic () context in Gebel Irhoud Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic? Does this tran- cave during Isotope Stage 6, which ends c. 130,000 DP sition reflect the emergence of modern behav- (e.g. Hublin 1992), in (McBurney 1967) iour? Does it reflect the appearance of language and in the deposits at Dar es Sultan and as we know it today? Could Neanderthals pro- Mugharet el 'Aliya (Klein 1989; Minugh-Purvis 1993). duce the same kinds of stone , beads and The Aterian, derived technologically and typologi- bone tools as the Cro-Magnons? Does the evi- cally from the local Mousterian, is dated 160,000- dence from the few preserved demon- 70,000 BP in and as late as 35/30,000 DP in the strate cultural differences between Neanderthals Maghreb (Wendorf et al 1993; Tillet 1989; Wengler and early modern humans, even where both were 1997). producers of various Mousterian industries? It is generally agreed now that the 'archaic' to We start by assuming that this archaeological 'modern' morphological changes had taken place transition is cultural, and was not produced by a

152 On the Nature of Transitions

Bohunician BachoKiro EUP- '43 Ka

£ ivacii • Boker Tachtit Early Upper 47/45 Ka Palaeolithic EUP

EUP CORE AREA?

Early colonization by AMH

EUP? 1738 Ka

Figure 6. The routes of dispersals of the Upper Palaeolithic revolution with a potential core area in East Africa.

population that was biologically different from Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) appeared only around and therefore inherently smarter than its contem- 50,000-45,000 years ago in a certain core area and poraries. Instead, we suggest that the population expanded from there indicates that, as with the responsible for the transition succeeded in im- Neolithic, not all the populations of AMH took proving its technical skills, was able to achieve part in this revolution. There is general agree- better returns on hunting and gathering forays, ment that AMH had begun to spread within Af- and had reached higher fertility and infant sur- rica and into at least since Isotope Stage 6, vival rates (e.g. Bentley et al. 1993; Bentley 1996). some 200,000 years ago. Examples include the This population consequently re-organized its Qafzeh-Skhul people, who produced a Mousterian and created a better means of , buried their dead, used red and communication. Such a population, as history collected marine shells. Likewise, as noted previ- demonstrates, would tend to expand rapidly. ously, human remains of AMH in North Africa Employing this approach eliminates the need to are associated with Mousterian and Aterian in- view phylogenetic factors as the sole essential dustries. Furthermore, although Australia was triggers for change at a particular time. colonized presumably by AMH some 60,000 years 2. The fact that cultural manifestions of the Early ago, the earliest human fossils are dated to c. 30 ka.

153 Ofer Bar-Yosef

3. The earliest dated site in East to the Franco-Cantabrian region, generally flows Africa, where the presence of ostrich eggshell from early (45/43 ka) to late (40-38 ka) so that an beads was interpreted as evidence for modern east-west transition or migration is clearly im- behaviour, is Enkapune Ya Muto in , near plied (e.g. Otte & Keeley 1990; Kozlowski 1992). Lake Naivasha (Ambrose 1998). The earliest layer At least parts of the south of that contains an Upper Palaeolithic assemblage is the Ebro Valley continued to be inhabited by the tentatively dated to around 50,000 years ago (on Neanderthals, manufacturers of Mousterian as- the basis of hydration dates, radiocar- semblages, until at least till 27 ka (Hublin et ah bon readings and rate of sedimentation). The egg- 1995). shell beads were collected from a younger deposit, 7. In the Levant, the earliest human fossils from the dated to 39,900±1600 DP (Pta-4889F2). Ambrose Upper Palaeolithic layers of (level 17) suggests adding another 3500 years to this date, and Qafzeh are considered to be modern "Cro- taking account of evidence for increased cosmo- Magnons". All these fossils are tentatively dated genic nuclide production (Laj et ah 1996). Hence to 35,000-28,000 DP. There are no human fossils these beads are the earliest recorded in Africa. from the earliest Upper Palaeolithic industries 4. If we believe that Modern humans came out of (the , or as it is also called the Transitional Africa through the Nile Valley, then we need to Industry), a situation that parallels the general find the evidence for this dispersal route. A re- lack of skeletal material from the earliest Aurig- cent summary (van Peer 1998) surveys the evi- nacian in Europe (Gambier 1989). dence, but unfortunately the timing of the transition is not well-established in radiometric Discussion terms. In addition, the evidence from the Maghreb indicates that the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic The Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe transition occurred after 40,000 DP, perhaps at is an intriguing phenomenon. The presence of about 35,000-30,000 DP (interpolation based on Neanderthals followed by Cro-Magnons raises ques- McBurney 1967; Tillet 1989; Wengler 1997). tions concerning the nature of the differences be- 5. The earliest radiocarbon-dated Upper Palaeolithic tween these two human populations. The Upper context in the Levant is Level 1 at Boker Tachtit. Palaeolithic assemblages and sites are interpreted as The readings indicate an age of 47,000-46,000 DP reflecting modern behaviour, largely on the basis of (Marks 1983; 1993). The assemblage, made of comparisons with the lifestyles of ethnographically cores from which Levallois points were obtained, known hunter-gatherers. The ability to cross a chal- is Upper Palaeolithic and not Mousterian in its lenging ecological barrier to colonize Australia and basic technological and typological characteris- the has been considered possible only by tics. The Levallois points preserve bi-directional humans like us. One common explanation is that scars of previous blade extraction and thus differ Cro-Magnons were the first to fully master language entirely from the Late Mousterian Levallois points (Lieberman 1989; Whallon 1989). Language enabled in the Kebara (Meignen & Bar-Yosef 1991) or major necessary changes in social organization with- (Hovers et ah 1995). A different in- out which the colonization of the northern latitudes dustry, unfortunately not well-dated, was re- could not have been accomplished. This contention, ported from a cluster of sites in including however, is the subject of vigorous criticism by lin- Ksar Akil (Copeland 1975; Ohnuma 1988; guists, brain scientists, and behaviourists who try to Ohnuma & Bergman 1990). These assemblages decipher the evolution of human language and cog- are characterized by a high flake component with nition (Mellars & Gibson 1996 and papers therein). a dominance of Upper Palaeolithic stone tools, All these researchers necessarily employ archaeo- including chamfered pieces. While different from logical information to test their models (e.g. Donald Boker Tachtit level 1, they are of broadly compa- 1991; Mellars & Gibson 1996; Deacon 1997; Lieberman rable technological status. Worth mentioning is 1997; Mithen 1996; 1997). There seems a growing that the same industry, with chamfered pieces, agreement that humans have used language at least called the early Dabban (dated to c. 35-30 ka), since 400-300 ka (Kay et ah 1998). This is supported characterizes the early Upper Palaeolithic at Haua in part by the evidence such as the discovery Fteah (McBurney 1967). of the modern-looking hyoid bone at Kebara 6. In Europe, the trajectory of available radiocarbon (Arensburg et ah 1990), though such finds are rare. dates (all uncalibrated), from Bacho-Kiro () In contrast to previous suggestions (Binford

154 On the Nature of Transitions

1989), the archaeological evidence demonstrates Blade manufacturing in that humans could have displayed considerable Time Europe Africa West East Australia planning depth long be- Ka Asia Asia fore the Middle/Upper Upper Palaeolithic transition. Palaeolithic This is evidenced for ex- ample by the Schoningen East wooden - (Thieme 1997) that are South dated to c. 400 ka. Similar planning ability is also "3 recorded by our better un- PS derstanding of the opera- 2 tional sequences in the 200 production of blanks from nodules of (e.g. Boeda et al. 1990; 250 Meignen 1993; Geneste et al 1997; Schlanger 1996), not to mention some of the Blade Industry Early UP Blade Industry EUP finished tools themselves. Studies of these chaines operatoires have demon- Figure 7. Early and late appearances of blade manufacturing in various parts of the strated that the level of Old World. Note that the earliest manifestations of the Upper Palaeolithic revolution fo'retlT "hr "C "^ ^ preceded the blade production in some areas. tion strategies among the Eurasian Middle Palaeo- general, however, longer distances are common for lithic people was no less complex than that shown th* e movement of' raw materia" " l among "Uppe r ~Palaeo- by producers of blades from prismatic cores. lithic cultural entities. Some of the types distinguished in An important issue is the production of blades Bordes' typology were argued by Dibble (e.g. 1995 which have so often been considered, again on the and previous references therein) to form a continuum basis of the European evidence, as the marker of the °f reduction. In my view the resharpening of arte- Upper Palaeolithic. The earliest occurrences of in- facts by certain Mousterian groups, and others, such dustries with abundant blades are, however, dated as the Yabrudian, occurred regardless of the need to to around 250,000 BP in East Africa, 250,000-150,000 BP conserve raw material and shows a capacity for tac- in the Levant and possibly 200,000-150,000 in ncal planning. Several Mousterian industries are also Transcaucasia (e.g. McBurney 1967; McBrearty et al. characterized by the presence of types (e.g. small 1996; Jelinek 1990; Meignen 1994; 1995; Liubin 1977). bifaces, flat foliate points, or tanged tools), which Western Europe itself is in fact rich in early blade seem to reflect the existence of well-defined designs. industries mostly from Isotope Stage 5. Many Mid- In addition, numerous cases of curation in Middle dle Palaeolithic assemblages, containing abundant Palaeolithic contexts do not differ from Upper Pal- blades, are known from (Conard 1990), aeolithic examples, and curation over long distance northern (Meignen 1994; Revillion & Cliquet is also considered a marker of modern behaviour. In 1994), and (Otte 1994). Methods employed , for example, the production of in blade production ranged from uni- and bi-direc- Howieson's Poort backed pieces from non-local raw tional recurrent Levallois at Biache-Saint-Vaast Material indicates exchange across a wide region (Tuffreau & Somme 1988) to the more typical Upper some 70,000 years ago (Deacon 1992). A somewhat Palaeolithic methods involving prismatic cores (Otte similar example can be cited from Germany, where 1994). No blade industries are known from the pe- raw material was brought from distances of up to riod of full glacial conditions in Europe, however, 100 km by Mousterians (Conard & Adler 1997) and and it seems that the techniques of Upper Palaeo- rarely more than 200 km (Feblot-Augustins 1997). In lithic blade manufacture do not represent a lasting

155 Ofer Bar-Yosef

technological from the earlier manifesta- surviving and reaching adulthood. A slight increase tions. In any event, the existence of pre-Upper Pal- in life expectancy secured the survival of older mem- aeolithic blade assemblages indicates that both bers of the group, thus extending the 'living memory' and AMH populations mastered this of the group. Over time this would lead to better prior to 50,000 DP. monitoring of the environment and of more distant In Europe and the Near East the differences are regions. Long-range networks of social alliances in the secondary trimming and the shaping of 'tools' (Gamble 1982) were developed to overcome seasonal from blanks. While Middle Palaeolithic forms re- or annual periods of economic stress. With such a main the same for longer periods the Upper Palaeo- dynamic feedback chain of socio-economic changes lithic industries are characterized by rapid turn-over the formation of new interaction spheres was a natu- of shapes or types in these regions. ral outcome. Communication systems were im- When other categories of archaeological evi- proved, probably involving not only linguistic dence are taken into account it is not surprising to abilities but methods and techniques of communica- find that most researchers conclude that the cogni- tion which enabled groups to move across large dis- tive abilities of Upper Palaeolithic modern humans tances without losing the personal contacts essential in Europe, and especially in the Franco-Cantabrian for keeping and maintaining mating systems. These region, differed from those of the makers of are best expressed in the movement of objects and Mousterian or other Middle Palaeolithic industries. raw materials over long distances (Roebroeks el ah A supposed surge of self-awareness is expressed in 1988). The identification of particular human social the greatly expanded industries of bone, antler and groups is also reflected in specialized lithic artefacts ivory, the range of beads, pendants and marine shells (Otte & Keeley 1990) and body decorations (White as body decorations, and the various forms of mo- 1989). bile and art (Mellars 1989; 1996a; White 1997). The movement of the Cro-Magnons across Eu- The proliferation of these traits undoubtedly stands rope followed several routes. One went along the in contrast to previous Middle Palaeolithic assem- Danube valley, and possibly through the central Eu- blages, with only a few 'art' objects (e.g. Marshack ropean plains, into temperate Europe; the other was 1997 and references therein). It should be stressed, a southern, Mediterranean route. Encounters with however, that the cultural sequence in Western Eu- the Neandertals resulted in replacement, or either rope is unusual within the Upper Palaeolithic. We the formation of reciprocal cultural contacts or uni- need to ask why and how the cultural trajectory of directional acculturations. Chatelperronian and this Upper Palaeolithic took a different course from are now often perceived as the results of its contemporaries in the Near East, Africa, eastern such encounters and demonstrate the ability of Asia or Tasmania. The assumption that only those Neanderthals to make blades of Upper Palaeolithic 'art' manifestations that survived, correctly inter- type, together with bone and antler objects and beads. preted as symbolic expressions, constitute direct evi- The fact that they did not do so everywhere, and not dence for language (Davidson 1997) indicates a biased until the AMH expanded into Europe, may indicate approach that avoids or fails to perceive the basic that the maintenance of old was a particu- question: why is it geographically limited? If there larly strong element in their social structure (but see are social determinants common to all foragers across the argument on Neanderthal acculturation by the world, then we should expect to find similar d'Errico el al 1998). symbolic behaviours in a variety of landscapes. In sum, one can very clearly see dramatic The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in changes, similar to those at the origin of agriculture, the Near East and Europe can be explained as the taking place within a single human population. It introduction of new technologies. These include tech- can plausibly be argued that there is no need to niques for food acquisition, such as throwers, invoke a marked biological threshold for the onset of new forms of projectile heads, and even , the Upper Palaeolithic. Unlike the Neolithic situa- perhaps basketry, as well as new tools for food prepa- tion, we do here have in the European world two ration such as grinding stones (de Beaune 1989; different human populations, perhaps different spe- Wright 1991). New trapping and storing techniques cies, but the key point is that the cultural transition may have become available, although the evidence does not take place when one of these species first for this is still meagre (Soffer 1989b). Stable food appears. Careful studies of the archaeology of the provisioning in seasons of stress resulted in popula- immediate AMH ancestors of Upper Palaeolithic tion increase as newborns had a better chance of humans (or the Cro-Magnons) in their original

156 On the Nature of Transitions

homeland or core area will probably reveal the tech- conditions by keeping total population at low num- nical and organizational pre-adaptations that made bers with relatively high mobility. High altitude ex- a successful population change its lifeways — a ploitation was left to special task groups. change for which the direct evidence is the kind of Some of these same factors are relevant when archaeological residues we call 'Early Upper Palaeo- we assess 'old ways of life' at the time of the Middle lithic'. Despite the capabilities of Middle Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic transition. The Middle Palaeo- humans, Upper Palaeolithic populations within the lithic is characterized by a low degree of regionali- 30 ka following their appearance did technologically zation — the same or similar lithic technologies much better, most of the time, in every ecological prevail over large areas, such as the entire Levant. context. A striking illustration is successful survival Only a few occurrences of symbolic behaviour in subarctic conditions, through numerous techno- are encountered in Middle Palaeolithic deposits of logical innovations (Soffer 1989b), and their success Western Asia; they include burials (several with grave in colonizing the Americas. offerings), the use of red ochre and rare marine shells. The development of tangible expressions of self- Sub-Saharan Africa seems to have been richer, with awareness and of changing intra- and inter-societal, examples of barbed points in Zaire (Brooks et al. as well as societal/environmental relationships, is 1995), bone objects in Howieson's Poort in south reflected in their body decorations, decorated ob- Africa and the early appearance of ostrich eggshell jects, portable art, , and specially designed beads (Ambrose 1998). TTiere were low levels of over- tools. These were created by populations when and all fertility in the temperate zone but possibly higher where the need for such expressions arose (Belfer- ones in subtropical latitudes. Cohen 1988). Not all groups of foragers were in the In each case the revolution is technical with same situation, had the same social structure or the immediate socio-economic implications. The Neolithic same needs. Hunting and gathering groups have is driven by environmental deterioration during the long differed in their responses to regional carrying Younger Dryas; it is still not known what precisely capacities, through their particular technologies and triggered the Upper Palaeolithic revolution. social organization. The continuous success of one With the passage of time, the socio-economic group could have caused the decline of a neighbour- effects of each revolution became permanent fea- ing group. Demographic modelling by Zubrow (1989) tures of the new cultural pattern, whether early Up- indicates how quickly a less successful population, per Palaeolithic or early Neolithic. The immediate in this case the Neanderthals, may disappear. But results would be new planning and scheduling of this did not happen at the same pace everywhere. In subsistence strategies, increased rates of survival of Iberia we now know that the Neanderthals survived newborns and prolonged survival of the elders in for at least another 13,000-15,000 years after the first the group. This would bring not only a population arrival of the Cro-Magnons in that same general area. increase but selective advantages in long-term moni- Similar interpretations concerning the relationships toring of the environments treasured in the prolonged between incoming and local populations would 'living memory' of the group. It would also enable doubtless apply to the /Neolithic transi- the formation of long-distance social alliances in the tion in most of Eurasia, but discussion of this issue is Early Upper Palaeolithic surpassing those of the Mid- beyond the scope of this article. dle Palaeolithic, and long-distance exchange and relations in the Neolithic. Concluding remarks The practical results of the revolution in each case were immensely important, both immediately The core area where the transition to agricultural and in the longer term. The following are merely subsistence began is characterized by a high degree examples: (a) improved subsistence strategies with of topographical and phytological variability in a new technologies/techniques such as spear-throw- relatively small geographical area. Resources, espe- ers and the earliest archery in the Early Upper Pal- cially plant foods, are predictable, highly accessible aeolithic, and improved archery in the Neolithic; (b) and reliable. improved , especially needed in northern A summary of the old ways of life would indi- latitudes in the Early Upper Palaeolithic and the use cate a low degree of mobility especially in lusher areas of with other traditional materials in the (perhaps even semi-sedentism), coupled with sea- Neolithic; (c) improved gathering and transport de- sonal exploitation of ecotonal resources. Groups were vices including , sledges, and the first ap- able to sustain themselves in steppic and semi-desertic pearance of storage facilities; (d) the first use of

157 Ofer Bar-Yosef

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